Wow - So the concept of Klickable TV was spawned more than a year ago from another project (which is about to be completed) called MyRoommates.TV.  The premise was product placement on steroids.  We had a few false starts by trying to outsource development.  I got frustrated and decided to become a Flash developer myself.  (How hard could it be right?  I survived my undergraduate operating systems class somehow (thanks Stuart)).  Well this turned out to be the best decision ever (see #2).  So more than one year later, Klickable.TV and our first client has become a reality.  So these are the top 5 things that I've learned from this wild roller coaster of a ride.

1. 1) Everything will always go wrong no matter how well you plan
   Gant charts, calendars, and projections are useful but there are always unforeseen circumstances that throw these things out of whack.  Case in point: Yes we were coding up to the deadline but all of a sudden our Subtle Tea wifi goes out.  Of all the things to worry about!
    
   Build this Murphy's Law time into your projection and try not to pin down an exact time especially when you know that you are going to paint yourself into a corner.  If a project is due on Monday 9am, try to have a prototype done by Saturday or at least shoot for this date in your pretty Gant charts and calendars.  Chances are, you are going to need until at Monday 5am to finish (we needed until 7:30am). 
   
   
2. 2) Build from the bottom up - not from the top down
   There's a really great story about American businesses and how we have more cooks in the kitchen than is necessary. 
   
   The fact of the matter is while business dictates technology, technology still needs to run the show.  We tried to outsource technology and this did not work well at all because they did not understand our business needs, which constantly change.  Sure there are always great stories of how outsourcing works (see Kevin Rose and elance).  While Mike Bloomberg and Steve Jobs are both known for their business acumen, they were tech people first (Bloomberg at Solly and Jobs with Woz).  I've been in so many situations where business people promise the world to their clients and its up to the tech team to deliver.  (oh crap!). 
   
   Lead your team to execute your vision because I've learned that everyone wants to be the idea guy(see next point).
   
   3) keep it simple stupid
   We do one thing and one thing only.  Some might call us a one trick pony.  I'm fine with that.  When you listen to people and all of the features and requests they want, you'll get no where.  The rebuttal I get is well look at Google, they listen to the customer and build things that they want.  OK well how did Google start?  They did one thing and one thing really well.  Then they branched out and lost money in everything else that they did.  If you spread yourself too thin initially and try to become everything to everyone, you become nothing.  (I was going to say nothing to no one but that would be great then wouldn't it grammar buffs?)
   
   4) craziness is an asset laziness is a liability
   Everyone at Klickable TV is crazy.  You have to be.  We're doing something that no one else has ever done and doing it with a smile on our face (most days).  Especially in a place like New York where most people are "safe" - we need to keep pushing the envelope and not listen to anyone but the little voices in our head saying that one day this will be so obvious just like Google is/was.  Listen to the little voice in your head, stay focused, and somehow it'll come together Tons of folks along the way poked holes in the argument, told us it couldn't be done, and while these notes are helpful, if entrepreneurs listened to these Debbie Downers we'd still all be farmers with square wheels. 
   
   
   5) don't burn cash unless you have to
   The company was started in a tea shop.  I know more about tea than I think I could've ever wanted to know.  The great thing about it though was that we met some really interesting people but more importantly we conserved cash.  Most developers would prefer to work from home anyway and business people should be out making the rounds.  "Let me come to your office instead."  Keep your day job and moonlight if you have to.  That's what the weekends are for.  (see previous point). 
   
   I've learned more than these five points but I think that every entrepreneur should have these things in their mind before they take the plunge.  Entrepreneurship is tough, but at least you don't have to answer to the MAN (only those that have their access denied...private joke).